AND the Oscar for Best Entertainment Diplomat goes to . . . Kevin Rudd.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has emerged as an unlikely saviour for Australia's Oscar hopeful Jacki Weaver.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Animal Kingdom, she was facing Oscars night without her husband by her side due to a visa snafu.

Hubby Sean Taylor, a South African national but an Australian citizen, could not obtain a visa in time and seemed destined to watch next week's Hollywood ceremony from their Sydney home.

Enter another actor, Rhys Muldoon, who with Mr Rudd wrote a children's book, Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle.

"I got an email from Jacki saying it looked as if Sean would be sitting in his tuxedo and watching the Oscars from their home in Redfern because of visa problems - which, obviously, she was really disappointed by," Muldoon said yesterday.

"It looked as if he wouldn't get his visa until two days after the Oscars . . . so I put in the call to Kevin," he said.

It is believed Mr Rudd called contacts at the US embassy, and Mr Taylor's visa was issued immediately.

"It all got sorted out very quickly," Muldoon said.

"But that's what friends are for, I suppose."

Mr Rudd's media adviser confirmed the former prime minister had used some of his diplomatic sway.